Another Dream, Another Death
by Manic Zombie Queen
Summary: I've taken the final scene, tweaked it a lot, and created some okay OCs. This is so that my mind won't explode. o: Read it if you wish, but flames will be eaten with cheese.


So, if you haven't seen me around in the other areas, I've decided to make a Sweeney fic just for the hell of it all. :D So, realize that this will be trés A.D.D. Realize that this if for my crack mind to have something to think about that makes absolutely no sense whatsoever, so be warned that this is bad on purpose.

Rated T because of the violence tendencies Sweeney has. xD

-Darian

**Prologue- First Encounters**

**It **was raining lightly that night, though the sky was dark and clouded like his mind. He could feel the blood slowly drip down his face, from his cheek downwards, speeding up at his neck, staining the high white collar red.

Sweeney could feel the pulse in her body slowly die, as the wide dark eyes looked up at him pitifully, her last words etched onto the pale lips, a tear having formed at the corner of an eye and dripped into the mass of dark hair.

The look of death soon appeared, but the three words which she had said last were still there, even on a corpse. 'I love you.'

Those three simple words, put together, sickened him, as he stood up and kicking the body for a second, before walking up the set of stairs which led from the hellish room he could tell would soon be filled by rats and parasites before the day was over. He couldn't stay here- that much his twisted mind he understood- he had to leave. Tonight.

He didn't try to remember what just happened down there, as he changed into a clean shirt, scrubbing the red liquid, "Rubies," he muttered, smoothing his hair and collecting the few things he had. After collecting his razors, each one cleaned and polished, he left, ignoring the blood which stained the room and the silence of death.

Sweeney walked slowly down the empty streets, passing by the end of Fleet Street and onto Newgate Street, eyes looking from one shop to another for a sign in the window for a sign of vacancy. About halfway down the street, a small bakery with the title of _Stardust Bakery_ showed the sign which he was looking for.

Though the door itself was closed, the windows were not shuttered, which showed to the street that a few lamps were still lit, and exposed the humming quietly figure inside. The smell of baking bread wafted out, to pull people in and to make anyone who neared interested.

The girl in the shop was of slim build, late teens and dark blonde ringlet's surrounding her pale face, dark marks surrounding her hazel-grey eyes, and a grey-black dress appropriate for both the fashion world and the world of practical. Her look was distant, as if her mind was on other things but unable to speak of them at this time. She flitted from one side of the shop to another, putting away some supplies and pulling out others, before going to the main table and beginning to knead the rising dough slowly. The hum was of a song, whatever that was Sweeney did not know, but the less of a reason, still he knocked on the door lightly, as he found it to be locked.

She looked up, cheeks flushing brightly, as she scrambled to the door, unlocking it and opening it slightly.

"Can I help you, sir?" she asked, raising an eyebrow at his disheveled appearance, but saying nothing about it, however feeling a chill run down her spine, as if a warning.

"There is a room above this shop for rent, is there not? You sign says so, but as you speak you appear to say otherwise." His voice was low, dead of any emotion, eyes darkly looking upon the girl with distaste.

"Of course! Let me get the keys, and I'll show you up," she said, opening the door of the bakery wide to allow him in, before searching for the keys, and then heading up a flight of stairs. "The keys are in the other room, so I'll be right there," she turned, looking back to him, as if making sure that he wasn't simply an image of her mind, before continuing up and then returning a moment later with a key in hand, brushing past him to lead him out the door once more. She was nearly his height, the top of her head grazing his forehead, slim to the point of almost unhealthy, and a look of lost innocence to her.

"I am Miss Darian Stardust, and the way to the room you're asking for is up the stairs in the back," she said quickly, walking around the shop to a set of stairs going up the side of the house, which lead to a door.

She walked up the stairs first, Sweeney following, the silence broken only by the gentle rain and their footsteps, causing the stairs to creak. As they approached the door, the rain begun to increase, becoming heavier drops, splashing into large puddles which formed on the ground, almost as if it was blood dropping to the ground from a neck. Sweeney shuddered silently, frowning up at the sky, trying not to remember what he went through a few days beforehand, even earlier that day. The dark sky was lit up for a second by the lightning, and then the silence was broken again by the thunder. Pushing the key into the slot and jiggling it for a moment, she opened the door slowly, the hinges creaking softly.

"It's a small room, though roomy. Most of the stuff up here is from the odds and ends which we can't keep downstairs. There's another door to the downstairs, but we don't use it and I'd advise against using it." She pulled out a matchbox, lighting one before lighting a candle, then another, until the room was slowly filled with light. A small bed, to one side of the room, and a table near that side of the room, where a few candles sat unlit, while on another table on the other side of the room was below a fairly large mirror. A small bureau was near the table, one of the drawers open, exposing that it was empty. There was only a faint line of dust, which she quickly began trying to brush away.

"Breakfast's at five and the rent for the week is seven shillings. Is there anything else you'd like to know?" She walked slowly towards the door, before turning to see the man again. She could feel as though there was something off about the man, but they needed the money from the rent and having the space empty brought up too many old memories. Darian rested a hand on her hip, raising an eyebrow gently.

"Do you know a pie shop owned by a woman named Lovett?" Sweeney asked, eying the room, before sitting down the bed and looking around the room slowly.

Darian wrinkled her nose, frowning. "There's something fishy about that place. She tried to get me to come up into the parlor for a haircut. However, once I smelled the smoke around the place, I had to leave." She wrapped her arms around her waist tightly, looking at him oddly. "Anything else?"

"What happened in the other doorway?" He began putting away his clothing in the bureau, not looking towards her, before pulling out one of his razors, looking at it in the light.

Darian did not say anything, turning away. "My family has had… issues, and my mother died accidently when she fell down the stairs, and landed on my sister."

"Did she survive?" He pretended to sound interested, looking up to see her back.

"She has been in an asylum since I was young, after having my mother die in front of her. She was alright for a while, but after the incident… she changed. However, after twelve years, she's coming back a few days from now." Darian opened the door, starting out, before then turning around.

"May I ask your name, sir?" Looking over her shoulder, she saw a glint of metal in his hands.

"Todd. Sweeney Todd." He was harsh, pulling out a cloth and beginning to clean it gently, smiling at the cold metal.

"Good night, Mister Todd."

If you didn't catch it, Sweeney killed Lovett. So, hopefully, the next chapter will come up soon, but since I live off of comments, please do R&R!!

-Darian


End file.
